Historically in Gloucestershire, Avonmouth is the location of a large port, Avonmouth Docks. The Royal Portbury Dock, under the same management, is on the other side of the Avon. Avonmouth is home to several large chemical manufacturing plants and a gas-fired power station. There is also a significant residential area in Avonmouth between the industrialised zone and the M5 motorway.

A 19th century description

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Avonmouth in its infancy from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"AVONMOUTH, a new sea-port in the SW of Gloucester; at the mouth of the river Avon, and at the terminus of the Bristol Port and Pier railway, 5¾ miles NW by W of Clifton. The railway and the pier were opened in 1865; and a dock, 1,400 feet long and 85 wide, was being constructed in 1869. The port is to accommodate such large vessels as cannot readily go up the Avon to Bristol."

Research Tips

Bristol Archives is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for Bristol and its environs are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected (except in the immediate Bristol area--for Bristol, see English Jurisdictions).

Gloucestershire Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.

Gloucestershire in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish

Gloucestershire in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s

GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)

A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.

English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the locations of ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities, as well as changes in their dedications (names). Very useful for Bristol.

The Church Crawler has a website of photos and histories of English Churches with emphasis on Bristol.

Unfortunately, the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online only provides information on Gloucestershire Churches in this part of the county. More general information on the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area is sadly omitted.